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<title>Privacy &amp; Security Preferences</title>
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<h1 id="privsec_preferences">Privacy &amp; Security Preferences</h1>

<p>The sections listed below describe the Privacy &amp; Security preferences.
  To see the preference panels, follow these steps:</p>

<ol>
  <li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
    <span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
  <li>Click the Privacy &amp; Security category. If no subcategories are
    visible, double-click Privacy &amp; Security to expand the list, then
    click the name for the preferences you want to view or change.</li>
</ol>

<p>For help with a panel&apos;s settings, click the appropriate link below.</p>

<div class="contentsBox">Related sections:
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#privacy_and_security">Privacy &amp; Security</a></li>
    <li><a href="using_priv_help.xhtml#private_data_prefs">Private Data</a></li>
    <li><a href="using_priv_help.xhtml#cookies">Cookies</a></li>
    <li><a href="using_priv_help.xhtml#images">Images</a></li>
    <li><a href="cs_priv_prefs_popup.xhtml#privacy_and_security_preferences_popup_windows">Popup Windows</a></li>
    <li><a href="passwords_help.xhtml#passwords">Passwords</a></li>
    <li><a href="passwords_help.xhtml#master_passwords">Master Passwords</a></li>
    <li><a href="ssl_help.xhtml#privacy_and_security_preferences_ssl">SSL</a></li>
    <li><a href="certs_prefs_help.xhtml#privacy_and_security_preferences_certificates">Certificates</a></li>
  </ul>
</div>

<h2 id="privacy_and_security">Privacy &amp; Security Preferences -
  Privacy &amp; Security</h2>

<p>This section describes how to use the main Privacy &amp; Security
  preferences panel. If you&apos;re not already viewing it, follow these
  steps:</p>

<ol>
  <li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
    <span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
  <li>Click the Privacy &amp; Security category.</li>
</ol>

<h3>User Tracking</h3>

<p>These settings allow you to communicate your tracking preferences to
  websites and to actively block tracking requests from known tracking
  sites. <a href="glossary.xhtml#user_tracking">User tracking</a> refers
  to websites (including advertisers, analytics providers, and social sites)
  collecting and analyzing comprehensive data on your web browsing patterns,
  thus affecting your privacy. For more information on this topic, see
  <a href="privacy_help.xhtml#why_and_how_are_websites_tracking_me">Why and
  How Are Websites Tracking Me?</a> The following options are available in
  this section:</p>

<ul>
  <li><strong>Tell websites that I do not want to be tracked</strong>: Check
    this to instruct &brandShortName; to inform every website you explicitly
    visit (along with any providers of third-party content embedded in its
    pages) that you don&apos;t want your browsing behavior being tracked.
    If checked, a <a href="glossary.xhtml#do_not_track">Do Not Track</a>
    request is sent to each website visited.</li>
  <li><strong>Prevent tracking activities by known sites</strong>: Check
    this to instruct &brandShortName; to actively block connections to 
    websites which are known to provide tracking services. You may not see
    any content coming from these sites in the web page visited.</li>
  <li><strong>Warn me when known tracking activities were detected</strong>:
    Check this to be presented with a notification bar when content was blocked
    which can be used for tracking. This bar contains the following buttons:
    <ul>
      <li><strong>Keep Blocking</strong>: Dismiss the notification bar without
        loading the content from an identified tracking site.</li>
      <li><strong>Unblock</strong>: Allow such content to be loaded now and
        automatically when this page is visited again in the future.</li>
      <li><strong>Preferences</strong>: Open the Privacy &amp; Security
        preference panel.</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Notes</strong>:</p>

<ul>
  <li>Honoring a Do Not Track request is voluntary, thus individual websites
    are <em>not required</em> to obey it. Websites and services that follow
    the policy should stop gathering and using information about your web
    browsing pattern for all activity for which Do Not Track is selected.</li>
  <li>Requesting Do Not Track from a website should not affect your ability
    to use the website properly (e.g., when using a
    <a href="glossary.xhtml#web_application">web application</a> or when
    putting items into a cart while shopping).</li>
  <li>Note that Do Not Track does not <em>prevent</em> advertisements from
    being presented to you while browsing. Since the website is not allowed to
    gather and utilize information about you, the content of the advertisements
    will be less specific if you have the Do Not Track option selected.</li>
  <li>Tracking prevention actively blocks content known to be used for tracking
    in a web page. Thus, the page may appear incomplete. Such sites are
    identified by periodically downloading a list of known tracking sites
    which are to be blocked if enabled. Tracking sites <em>not</em> on that
    list will still be connected to until they are listed.</li>
  <li>The selection of <q>Unblock</q> in the notification bar for a specific
    site can be revoked in the Permissions tab of the Data Manager. When in
    a <a href="using_priv_help.xhtml#browsing_in_a_private_window">private
    window</a>, these options aren&apos;t present in the notification bar.</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="safe_browsing">Safe Browsing</h3>

<p>Some websites contain potentially dangerous content and may have been
  reported as malicious. The preferences located in the lower section of the
  <a href="#privacy_and_security">Privacy &amp; Security panel</a> allow you
  to select which types of reported websites will be blocked. If enabled,
  &brandShortName; compares each website&apos;s address you are about to visit
  against regularly updated lists. A warning is issued prior to actually
  loading a reported website, thus giving you the opportunity to cancel the
  loading process. The following options are available in this section:</p>

<ul>
  <li><strong>Block reported attack sites</strong>: Check this if you want
    &brandShortName; to warn you if the website you are about to visit has
    been reported as a site that is trying to infect your computer with
    malicious software. Such <a href="glossary.xhtml#malware">malware</a> may
    interfere with your computer&apos;s functions or steal your personal
    information. It is also frequently used to send spam email or to spread
    more malware.</li>
  <li><strong>Block reported web forgeries</strong>: Check this if you want
    &brandShortName; to warn you if the website you are about to visit has
    been reported as a site that pretends to be a legitimate website of some
    well-known organization or service. Websites like this are frequently set
    up to mislead you in providing username and password or other sensitive
    personal information (commonly known as
    <a href="glossary.xhtml#phishing">phishing</a>).</li>
</ul>

<p>When you are trying to visit a website that has been reported as malicious
  (and the feature is enabled), you will see one of the following warnings:</p>

<ul>
  <li><strong>Reported Attack Page!</strong> This website has been reported
    as a website trying to infect your computer with malware.</li>
  <li><strong>Reported Web Forgery!</strong> This website has been reported
    as a website trying to steal your personal information.</li>
</ul>

<p>No harm has been done at this point. Select one of the following options:</p>

<ul>
  <li><strong>Get me out of here!</strong> Do <em>not</em> load this website.
    Instead, go to &brandShortName;&apos;s default start page.</li>
  <li><strong>Why was this page blocked?</strong> Opens a web page showing you
    the information reported on this specific website (this is an external
    page located with the provider of this service). If no such report data is
    available, a page with general information is shown.</li>
  <li><strong>Ignore this warning</strong>: Proceed with loading the page. Only
    use this when you are <em>certain</em> that the selected page is authentic
    and safe to visit. At the top of the page, a notification bar will appear,
    giving you an option to report errors to the provider of this service:
    <ul>
      <li><strong>This isn&apos;t an attack site</strong> or <strong>This
        isn&apos;t a web forgery</strong>: Click this button to open a new tab
        allowing you to report false warnings (this is an external page).</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Important</strong>: The Safe Browsing feature is switched on by
  default. It is <em>not</em> recommended to disable either function as this
  may result in you visiting unsafe sites.</p>

<p><strong>Note</strong>: If no warning is shown for a specific website, it
  does not <em>guarantee</em> that this site is trustworthy; it just means
  that it has not been reported. Attack and phishing websites may <em>look</em>
  safe but are secretly trying to attack you or to steal personal information.
  The website&apos;s owner or provider may not be aware that the site has been
  compromised.</p>

<p>[<a href="#privsec_preferences">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>

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